Pass Laboratories XA25 power amplifier

The XA25 stereo amplifier is the latest addition to Pass Laboratories' XA series of amplifiers and, at $4900, the lowest priced. It weighs only 45 lbs, has single-ended inputs only, and outputs 25Wpc into 8 ohms, 50Wpc into 4 ohms, or 100Wpc (!) into 2 ohms. According the XA25's well-written owner's manual, it will deliver 50W peaks into 2, 4, or 8 ohmsin class-A.

As Nelson Pass, founder of Pass Labs and the XA25's designer, writes in that manual: "The signal path from input to output has been simplified to fewer components. Degeneration, 'the other form of feedback' has been eliminated. The output stage consists of a single pair of 700 watt new generation output transistors operating push-pull Class A. We still use the same 'New Old Stock' of small power JFETs and cascoded MOSFET, in the classic 'CFA' voltage gain circuit. The amplifier is still DC coupled and has no frequency compensation."

The XA25 is "a simple 3 stage circuit with total of three pair of push-pull gain transistors. In their ideal state, matched push-pull FETs give perfect 'square law' cancellation of distortion, an effect somewhat spoiled by degenerative Source resistance used to constrain the 'personality' of the devices. The removal of this form of feedback is an important element in the performance of the XA25 and is accomplished by new approaches to stabilizing gain and bias of push-pull FETs."

Break-in and cable issues
Before the XA25 had even broken in, I'd almost given up on it. Its sound was unpredictable. I mean, dagnab it! How long should an amp take to wake up and play right? I had the damn thing on and playing music for at least four weeks, and still it occasionally sounded unsettlingly "different." But even on the first day I turned it on, I realized that the XA25 had an unusually solid midrange presence. Every day thereafter, I discovered more sonic wondermentsand more that I could not grok.

During this extended break-in period I experimented a little with speaker cables, and quickly realized that the XA25's sound changed with the wire. I began with my usual Auditorium 23 cables: the sound was rich and natural, if maybe a bit restrained. When I switched to AudioQuest Type 4s, the sound tightened up but also became slightly grainy. When I switched to AudioQuest's GO-4, the XA25 seemed to have found its clear, open, vivacious channel.

Listening with the Quad ESL
Four weeks in I had a gut feeling that the XA25 was a really good amplifier, but what I was hearing had yet to fully validate that notion. Then I had another gut feeling: The XA25 might be a good amp for those hard-to-drive old Quad ESLs. I hatched a plan.

I have a good friend I call my Irish Brother. He's a musician, a record producer, and a lifelong audiophile. More than anything, Irish Brother is obsessed with finding the perfect amp for his vintage Quad ESL speakersoriginal "57s" restored by Kent McCollum, of Electrostatic Solutions. For decades, IB has tried every conceivable amp. His current favorite is an ASR Emitter II MOSFET amp that outputs 280Wpc into 8 ohms and costs $24,900. Uber helped me take the XA25 to Irish Brother's apartment.

There we played a wide range of simply miked, uncompressed files. I thought the XA25 drove his old Quads better than the ASR, and better than any other amp I've heardexcept the Miyajima Laboratory Model 2010 ($9995). With the restored Quads, the Miyajima 2010 made music sound polished and floridits glowing tubes produced a luminous midrange that was probably more enticing than real. Voices, and individual notes from guitar, lute, and flute, had a shimmering, almost rustic quality that was unforgettable. I called the Miyajima 2010 "the Amplifier of the Floating World"its wabi-sabi charm reminded me of how futile and shallow-minded the search for audio perfection really is.

The Pass Labs XA25 had less wabi-sabi than the Miyajima, but it made the Quad's legendary midrange more solid, dynamic, and well defined than I'd ever thought possible. Percussion sounded really BIGfor Quads. The ESL isn't known for its bass or dynamic abilities, but the XA25 gave these more jump and low-frequency bump than has any other amp I've heard.

We played a lot of percussion. It was easy to tell whether drumheads were tight or loose, and all were made of tan-colored skins whose vibrating thicknesses and diameters I could sense. Everyone present in the Irish Brother's crib was smiling, mumbling "Wow." One person kept saying how "transparent" the XA25 was.

"Most amps give you the color blue," said Irish Brother, "but this amp goes from light blue to dark blue and all the shades in between. I can really tell my singers' timbres like never beforesort of like the way they sound in real life, when they're just talking to me on the mike. This amp really brings out the unique characters in their voices." A nerdy audiophile, IB kept switching back and forth between the $25,000 ASR and the $5000 Pass Labs XA25. "The ASR seems more linear across all frequencies with the Quads. It sounds more coherent across the board, but veiled next to the Pass."

"I've never heard the Quads' midrange sound so full-bodied," I opined. "Actually, I've never heard any electrostatic sound that realistically dense." In my opinion, electrostatic speakers' biggest flaw is that they make music sound as if it's hanging in a statically charged vapor, rather than like real flesh and blood standing right there in front of me. Through the Quads, the XA25 radically improved the tactile presence of music and musicians, their voices and instruments.

From another of Irish Brother's guests: "The ASR makes this recording sound like an album. The Pass makes it sound like an event."

Irish Brother: "With the Pass you hear a lot more resolution, but there is definitely a tad of thinness to the lower midrange that might get grating over time. Bass is not quite as full as the ASR, but close. The Pass sounds natural . . . real-life natural is sometimes more boring than hyped-up artificial."

Irish Brother's experience exactly mirrored my own. But neither of two other seasoned listeners present heard the thinness IB referred to. On one thing we all agreed: The Pass Labs XA25 delivered a potent transparency the likes of which none of us had heard before. It was as if the audio system had disappeared, making possible a direct view of what the microphones registered, unmitigated.

Listening with the Magnepan .7
Besides their low price, the beauty of Magnepan's .7 quasi-ribbon panel speakers ($1400/pair) is their ability to display a similar transparency. They do this easily because they don't exude the struggling exaggeration of tiny, overworked, long-excursion drivers trying to punch their way through to my bunker couch. People who know only speakers with dome tweeters think the .7 sounds soft and not so highly resolved. I believe they are wrong. As Irish Brother said, "real-life natural is sometimes more boring than hyped-up artificial." Driven by the Pass Labs XA25, the Magnepan .7s did real-life natural with ease and élan. As it had with IB's ancient Quads, the XA25 got a firm grip on the Maggies' membranes.

I put on the Fauré Requiem, with soprano Sheila Armstrong, baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and Daniel Barenboim conducting the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and the Paris Orchestra (LP, Angel S 37077). I was immediately taken by the depth and volume of the soundspace presented by the Maggies and Pass Labs. Sounds appeared to float powerfully in an abyssal space that extended to the right of the right speaker and to the left of the left, and even slightly in front of them.

Usually, only the best audio systems can sort out Fauré's densely orchestrated death mass. To play it really well, a system has to move big amounts of air, and not sound distorted trying to simultaneously reproduce low bass and high voices. The Maggies submitted completely to the Pass Labs' authority, making the most beautiful, detailed, effortless sound I'd ever heard from these modest panels.

Most important, the lower midrange and upper bass were the opposite of thin. Bass weight and organ power were well reproduced by a speaker not famous for these traits. Fischer-Dieskau sounded a bit distant, but his gentle, lyric baritone was pure and true. I listened to this recording at relatively low volumes. The Edinburgh Festival Chorus could sound a little screechy if I turned the volume up too high.

Listening with the DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93
I've spent decades listening to producer-engineer Kavichandran Alexander's recordings, released on his label, Water Lily Acoustics. I'm well familiar with their impeccable sound and unique spatial volumestraits that prompt the listener to find God in the empty spaces. With "Shortunga," from Hamza El Din's Lily of the Nile (CD, Water Lily Acoustics WLA-AS-11-CD), the Pass Labs XA25 and DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93 speakers showed me the full dramatic measure of El Din's poetic art: every note he plucked on his oud became a tiny, pulsating event. Tactility was conspicuous.

HighEnd is gear made for folks with mucho dinero, it has the smooth touch and has super high prices.

Audiophile gear ( my kind of gear ) is performance gear ( not built for prettiness ) but built with superior quality parts, understandings for what they do and proper placement in their circuits. Audiophile gear is built to perform musical magic, it's built by people that know how to create, and consistently deliver, Virtuosity. Is Mr.Reichert pointing out that Mr.Pass is one of those people? I think he is!

How many greats are there ? Pass, King, Curl, Had, D'agostino and probably a goodly number of others.

I'm say'n thanks for this XA25 Report, I'm glad Herb and peers like this design and I'm glad it's only $5,000. Maybe someone will swap their Fisher Reciever for it as it's certainly aimed at the dedicated & experienced Audiophile who can't live without the "increasing" thrills of musical discovery and still needs to preserve residual values. Pass stuff is very expensive to purchase "used" on eBay.

We have a reliable list of Recomended "Audiophile" componants from Herb Riechert and Steve Guttenberg !

I wonder if they could've discovered things like this Pass XA25 if they didn't already have a range of outstanding Loudspeaker transducers ?

This Amp Review and it's contextual detailing reveals the importance of having some sort of Guide to help navigate thru the gear selection process. Stereophile to the rescue

Tony is just a down to earth good ol' guy brett favre substance over style. He has it figured out and the other guys are about ignorant prettiness. Only empty style and no substance. Tony is lucky to be him and the other guys are rich suckers. Their heads are in the clouds and they only care about appearance.

Btw, I own $130K worth of audio gear, and I consider them High End in terms of there they sit in the product hierarchy. Components include the Pass xa60.8 mono blocks and the FirstWatt F7, audio research ref 6, 2-VAC preamps, 3-pairs new world sonus faber speakers, emm labs dacs, dynaudio speakers, focal utopia headphones. And those speakers are "oh so pretty..."

Tony, where do I fit into your little mutually exclusive world where you tell yourself people with more money are style over substance (while you're seated right in the sweet spot of humanity)? I recommend reading Carl Jung to specifically understand your own "shadow", and you can begin to pull yourself out of cave man thinking. Maybe sit back and listen for 2 or 3 years, don't give others' advice (because you're hurting them), and come back to the world a better man.

My comments are related to the various insights that Paul McGowan and Steve Gutenberg are "lately" sharing in their various YouTube daily Vlogs.

I, as a Retailer/Importer/manufacturer of Audio Gear sold HighEnd gear and I also sold to Audiophiles searching for performance. My Showy products far outnumbered my performance products. My best, top performance stuff were not the big sellers. Bose for example outsells LS3/5a by a factor of thousands to one ( maybe even greater ).

I'd say you went far out of your way to own outstanding Music stuff, you purchased plenty of it, you'd be somebody's very good customer.

As far as your $130,000 goes, it won't get you past the velvet rope when it comes to "Todays" HighEnd. The New Wilsons are $750,000. A Goldmund System will be closer to $2.500,000. HighEnd Turntable are costing $100,000, Arms are in the $30,000 range. My old pal Karen Sumner's Transparent Cable Systems range well over $200,000.

So, are you HighEnd or Audiophile?

Harry Pierson of TAS trained us to think that we're "High-End" but now, after following along with Steve Gutenberg's Video reports and Paul McGowan's thoughts I'll conclude that we're Audiophiles.

The times are changing, Audiophiles have the High Ground in Performance & Value.

Although I'm flattered, you're creating imaginary segments of people, then applying an imaginary competition between those segments in which your tribe of audiophiles has the "higher ground". I"m not in your tribe.

There's also no "velvet rope of high end". You just made it up. More imaginary segmenting. And if there was (which there isn't), you just moved it out far enough my situation feel "oh so poor and ordinary". Luckily my brain isn't wired like that.

Lastly, if someone has a $750k burmeister system in their yacht that their assistant ordered, i don't see any reason to judge that person on any grounds. Whether it's higher ground, lower ground, value showiness, non-audiophile. It's all just to try and make your own situation seem less desperate. I'm sure they like music as much as anyone else on the planet.

Now, you do peddle products for a living and you've probably consumed between 20,000 to 30,000 hours of television in your lifetime so I do understand how your thinking came to be.

There certainly is a Velvet Rope in Audio's HighEnd. Try to get an Audition of the Goldmund Store in Palm Beach Florida. You probably aren't a candidate to get those "Invites".

As far as me "peddle" products, that was the middle 1980s, I represented JVC, HarmonKardon, Wilson, VPI, PS Audio, Monster, Theil, Elecrocompaniet and every Turntable Manufacturer except Sota . I wanted to have Threshold stuff but they wouldn't or couldn't put their stuff in my Operation. I was offered Levinson but didn't like their gear compared to Electrocompaniet.

I left the Audio "High-End" Importing, Retailing and Manufacturer as CDs became the new format. I returned to General Motors work as a Manufacturing-Plant traveling Troubleshooter.

I've been long gone from all personal Audio ( except the Automotive Dashboard Radio / Music Systems stuff ) until I ran into Tyll & Steve G. at RMAF 2011. They recommended Schiit & Sennheiser which I purchased.
Now, I'm considering a "Retirement" Music System with enough build & design quality to do a nice job of playing Chad Kassem's new Releases which is why I reading Stereophile and XA Amplifier Commentaries.
I'm leaning to PS Audio because of BHKing, K.Smith, Arnie Nudel rip and Paul McGowan's upcoming Loudspeaker Releases and PS Audio's philosophy of Power Plant designs.
I'm also a fan of Kevin Deal and his Chinesium Tube Amps.
I'm kind-of inspired by those lads that stuck-it-out in Audio and lived to write about all of it.

I try not to flatter, I try to be analytical.

Tony in Michigan

ps. the Quality of the Music being released ( re-released ) and the beautiful playback from Digital Players is justifying my Investment in a Music System. I'm not going back to a large room filled with Vinyl.

I'm sort of falling into agreement with Paul McGowan in his philosophy of Audiophile gear being purpose built to Audiophile Levels of performance, kinda the way sports cars are built.

I'll return to your Editorial to refresh but I'm appreciative of what PS Audio is doing nowadays. PS Audio was the First Product line I carried as I launched into the Audio Industry ( 4 Decades Ago ).

We ( my partner & I ) kinda loved Paul and Stan.

I'm also liking the beautiful releases from outfits like Kassem, Chesky and so on.

We are getting the nicest recordings NOW, I want gear thats been designed to play it properly. I'm thinking that PS is the outfit making it all from the PowerPlant to Player to DAC to Pre to Amps to Loudspeakers with Active Servo Woofers.

One Stop Shopping, like buying Linn/Naim in the old days.

Still, I won't forget Schryer and your contributions.

Tony in Michigan ( switching from Cheeseburgers to Rice )

ps. My Cardiologist says that I might have another 3 Decades needing a good life plan. Fingers crossed!

Loudness is more than a complete thought, does that make it a sentence?

And that brings me back to what I'm seeing now-a-days : and I'm meaning "just-now-a-days"!!!

Audiophiles are producing their own dam recordings and plenty of em.

That is what justifies the Purchase of high performing Audio Gear.

Back when Loudness was built into everything ( because people were playing their music during "Drive Time" and the "Drive Time" meant the listening room had 75db ambient noise floors, the Music needed to drown out the dam noise.

Phew,

Now, with the Smart Phone becoming the preferred Music Source of our most important Customers who are trending to use the supplied white wired ear phones ( or the wireless in-ear thingys from Apple ), we'll be getting sensibly recorded & mastered Music.

We Win !!!

Reference Recordings and their type of Vinyl was the Basis of my being in the Music Business. Now that level of released Recordings will drive a whole new generation of Buying Audiophiles ( or Stereophiles , like us ).

Tony in Michigan

ps. now we have to make all this accessible to the other half of the population, the ones with the checkbooks.

I grew up into being 'audiophile' when you were in the thick of it. Your insights really ring true, and the direction of the industry- the most refreshing and insightful. I get what you were saying about entry level being $5000 for this amp in this market. It is worth it (without hearing it), but the entire industry seems to be skewed up 50% because the market bears it on the extreme end, and modern machining costs and the need for continued innovation is required from manufacturers. PS Audio is a great example, and the Stellar series would appear to be their very answer to your (and mine) question of value in the middle tier of affordable range. There seems to be some serious reflections on inflation in the last 20-30 years that may seem justified, but really creates a stark picture of the yawning gap between high- and middle-class toys these days.

There is much of what you speak that gives me hope, even though the small brick and mortars of the 80's and 90's are gone.

I didn't find that you were passing judgment others that can afford it, but let's be real- $250,000 for a stereo system is not normal. For 99% of society... One would have to own $500k in cars for that to even be rational in most families, not covering multi-million dollar homes, etc. This is not what most music-loving, audio component-interested folk are buying. We still dream and relish the test drives.

Do I still love reading about the ultra high-end? Yes! All of the time? NOOOO.

my hand is shaking as I answer your question . . . . I have written at length about the Maggie .7s with the Bel Canto Ref.e600Ms which I use all the time in reviews because I believe them to be articulate powerful sounding amplifiers - which suit my taste very nicely but . . . .high bias class-A is still . . . well you know :-)

I took all of his music on a long road trip and ended up listening to Paul Harvey and DX, for gods sake. I deleted most of his releases, when I returned home. I had fond ( smoke enhanced ) memories of "Bobby" that don't play well in a Sober Today. I wish they did, we need the old Bobby Dylan now that Orangeman is in Washington.

"Before performing any tests, I ran it at one-third its clipping power (see later) into 8 ohms for an hour. At the end of that time, the top panel was warm, at 102.3°F (39°C), and the heatsink fins were hotter, at 122.2°F (50.1°C)." Its in the measurements section

Great article. I have a pair of Kent’s 57’s and love them. Does the FW J2 have enough juice to drive them as well as or close to the X25? I read somewhere that the J2’s impedance curve may not be a good match. I have a J2 which I’m currently using to drive a pair of Linkwitz Orion’s tweeters. I also have a pair of Nelson’s Aleph 0 monoblocks driving the Orion’s mids. I haven’t tried either amp yet with the Quad’s and would welcome and appreciate your thoughts.

BTW, in a Quad amp shootout a few years back with Wyatt, Chesky and Lavorgna, the Rogue Atlas Magnum came in second place after the ASR Emitter. I’m driving the Quad’s with the Rogue Cronus Magnum as I write this email and they are sounding quite excellent.

Pass states that the XA25 puts out 25W into 8 Ohms, 50W into 4 Ohms, and 50W class A into either load. The amp easily exceeded the published specs into either load. This is, literally, the silliest complaint I've ever read about an audio component.

Maybe take a look at the $33k Jadis monoblocks reviewed elsewhere in this issue that can't even come close to half their rated output (and were specially modified by the mfg for the review) - now that's shifty (and shitty).

The Jadis monoblocks were not specially modified by the manufacturer for the review. A choice of tubes is available for the amps, and Jadis chose the tubes they felt would work best.

I hope that someday, I'll get a chance to hear these monoblocks with the Alexia 2s. I've been listening to them with Pass XA 200.8 Class A monoblocks, and their impedance curve in the bass, which is far amp friendly than the bass impedance curve in the Alexia 1s, is making a major difference.

"...I was puzzled by these results, as they suggest that the internal strapping of the Jadis's output transformer had been set up not for "4–8 ohms," as the distributor's representative had assured Jason Serinus, but for a lower impedance. Indeed, when I removed the JA200 Mk.II's bottom plate and compared the connections with those printed in the manual, it became apparent that this sample of the amplifier had been optimized for a 1 ohm load."

So, yeah, Jadis mod'd the amps to work with your speakers and like the pro he is JA figured it out - this testing, by the way, is one of the things that puts Stereophile well above rags like TAS. Pretty surprised JA didn't tell you, but not surprised the Jadis rep (a salesperson) lied about it.

I did tell Jason but not until after he had submitted his review text. Stereophile's reviewers don't see the measurements or my thoughts on the products until after they have written the review. That is so what they write about sound quality is not influenced by seeing the measurements. I take my hat off to them for not being intimidated by this.

the point remains, the rep told JVS that the amps were unmodified, after in fact modifying the amps to get a better review - this is shady behavior. Whether they'd do this for a customer is immaterial - they straight up lied to the reviewer, what makes you think this is isolated behavior? I doubt this was done without Jadis' knowledge. Hell, because of the mod, there's no way to know if the Jadis is even capable of anything like its rated output (I suspect not).

On a side note, Jadis should have requested AD for this review as he's much closer to their natural market.

It is NOT immaterial either.. The dealer has been the point of contact to assist customers for decades. If there was an issue with communication, it really seems like they are trying to pull a fast one on their readership... but who really cares?

If I told the dealer I have a 2 ohm speakers, they would consult Jadis, and apply the correct parts and values. These values for the correct load in ohms is something that most if not all dealer perform for their customers, specifically for the speaker load they are pushing.

This is akin to a phono stage manufacturer swapping out the correct resistors for the values that their cartridge needs. MC and MM, as you know, will require very different values and settings, depending on the application. Big whup there was a communication issue.

Lastly, it is THEIR determination who reviews what... if it seems like a mis-match for JVS and his equipment... tough! This is all about seeing what an amp can do in a variety of scenarios. He wanted to review it, and I'm sure it was a learning experience (which is a good thing). Perhaps JVS needs more speakers on hand, but that's my only criticism.

Lasty, what are you in this hobby for? To point out collusion and a lack of objectivity? That is utter tripe.

These reviews are a guidepost to listeners to find the correct match for their systems and audition a product that suits them. This is not some absolute establishment of value and hierarchical control of the market. Even Recommended Components is a list created by individual people and their opinions. They are not telling you what to buy... simply what to audition.

This makes your stance seem like much ado about nothing... Go find another mag if you're so insulted about this issue?

Thanks for the review and I strongly recommend also trying to listen to Audio Research Ref6/GS150 Pre/Power combination. Listening to them through my Wilson Sasha 2 connected to GS150 8 Ohm tab and comparing them with several other SET amplifier, transparency champ, and also Pass own 250wat integrated recently, the amount of transparency, low coloration, dynamic and musicality of AR Ref6/GS150 was beyond whatever amplification system that I have ever had in my room. Not to mention I am a SET guy and when ordered push/pull design with 8 huge tube in amp and another 6 tube in pre, I was quite doubtful of getting any transparency at all let alone being better than the other bests. Give them a try and you will see. But of course the price...

"The amount of Energy should remain the same."
Submitted by tonykaz on February 4, 2018 - 5:04am

Yes the close to doubling act from 8 to 4ohms is an indication of an amps ability to deliver current from it's output stage and power supply. In this case the amp can't do it as the test show, but it's advertising does look like it can, because of the understated 8ohm wattage, to make the 4ohm look like it's doubling, it's not that hard to grasp.

Herb;
You made a reference to the Pass XA-25 making your DeVores sound halographic and "less like rattling boxes". I also note you are no longer using the Primaluma preamp you were once so enamored of. I own an ARC Ref6 with an ARC Ref150se and DeVore O/93's. I suspect this request is not something you will try but I would submit that your choices of preamps and cabling have been less than optimum for the O/93's and that if you were to humor me by borrowing an ARC Ref6 with your choice of amp in the same quality range as the Pass, tube or ss, and humor me further by using Cardas Clear xlr between the preamp and amp and Cardas Clear speaker cable you would see jusr how halographic and non-point source the O/93's can be. I speak only from first hand trial and error and I have no industry connections. But please, despite what John DeVore recommends, Auditorium 23 is NOT the best speaker cable for the 0/93's and the magic of the ARC Ref6 per Mikey's review in helping to create a wide deep and halographic soundstage is undeniable. I have been following your reviews closely since you came on-board with Stereophile and you seem to select expensive analog source gear and devote less resources to preamps and cabling. Please-hear for yourself the full potential of the brilliantly designed DeVore O/93's!

"I also try to describe whole systems that normal people could actually assemble."
I know what you meant Herb but have to chuckle. What makes the Ref6 at around $15,000 a preamp that normal people can't actually assemble when you have a pair of DeVore O/93's that with tax (they can't be bought mail-order as far as I know) cost right around $9400? You own a turntable that cost $11,500 before adding the $3,000 cartridge as you stated;
"The Giro G9 is the Giro turntable bundled with the 9W2 9" tonearm. The package costs $10,000 without phono cable. Happily, my Giro G9 review sample came with AMG's Teatro moving-coil cartridge ($2750) and Reference phono cable ($1500)"
My point being; it's a matter of resource allocation rather than being "a man of the people" by which you no doubt refer to as "normal people".
My original post remains right on point-I am suggesting that just for grins, you ought to try some resource re-allocation. I too lust after that lovely Giro AMG Giro G9 and would take it a heartbeat over my VPI Prime that cost less than half of its price, and would love your choice of cartridge over my ~$1000 Ortofon Quintet Black and ~$1,000 Benz Gliders (2) on their third Peter Lederman rebuilds.
I am suggesting that your going lean on the carburetor when it comes to preamp and cabling and rich on the source-although a basic concept I ascribe to in general-does not pay off handsomely in the particular case of the DeVore O/93's. I did not notice that before my post, someone else had already posted about the magical combination of the ARC Ref6 and ARC GS150 (the exact same amp as mine with a glitzier front). I assure you it was a complete coincidence but should tell you something.

Thank you FredisDead for reading my stories so carefully. As for today, the only analogue products I own are my Linn LP12 Valhalla (soon to be a Hercules) and the SME M2-9 tonearm attached to it; also a 1957 Thorens TD124 turntable and the Abyss AB1 tonearm attached to it. I also own a cool pile of old Shure, Ortofon, Dyavector, EMIA and Denon cartridges and SUTs. All high quality but affordable stuff. Left to my own audiophile devices, I am at heart a DIY rat rod sort of guy.

Dear Herb,
Thanks for your review of the XA25. For a long time now I have been in the market for the very best amp for my Quad ESL 63. Do you think the XA25 would do the same wonders with a refurbished Quad ESL 63 as it did with the ESL 57?